Telescopic sights are in common usage. The subject lens protector is suitable for use on many telescopic sights, including those which are commonly identified as a telescope and those telescopic sights which are special purpose telescopes specifically manufactured for purposes of attachment to a rifle or other firearm or weapon.
Rain and other elements moisten, fog and otherwise interfere with viewing through telescopic sights, particularly those which are used on rifles for hunting purposes. It is important to be able to clearly view a target through a telescopic sight at the critical moment when a rifle is being aimed to fire.
Rifles and the telescopic sights attached to them are also subject to neglect and abuse during hunting, including the dropping of the rifle and the pushing aside of snow covered branches using the rifle, all of which can obscure the view through the telescopic sight.
Often the hunter must respond very quickly to sighting game. It is important that the lens protector used on a telescopic sight securely protect the sight and yet be quickly removable from the sight so as to immediately provide a clear view of a target through the sight with a minimum of difficulty and fumbling by the user.
Various telescopic sight lens protectors have previously been invented. Blais U.S. Pat. No. 2,632,252 and Paulus et al. U.S. Pat. No. 1,710,109 are U.S. patents which have lens protector devices which rotate one or more lens covers about an axis which is parallel to the telescopic sight axis.
Rogers U.S. Pat. No. 2,534,061, Mills U.S. Pat. No. 3,746,423 and Reavis U.S. Pat. No. 2,514,257 are U.S. patents which describe various telescopic sight protectors in which the lens covers pivot about an axis which is substantially at right angles to the telescopic sight axis.
Anderson U.S. Pat. No. 3,426,433, Thomas U.S. Pat. No. 3,131,477 and Nelson U.S. Pat. No. 3,208,146 are U.S. patents which describe various other telescopic sight lens protectors which cover and uncover the ends of a telescopic sight in various other ways.
None of these prior art telescopic sight lens protectors incorporate in a single apparatus the full measure of protection for the telescopic sight which is essential together with ability to use the telescopic sight when the lens protector is clean without removing the lens protector and the ability to quickly remove a lens cover from both ends of a telescopic sight with a single secure movement to place both lens covers in a predetermined rotated angular position away from the face of the user, all of which are objects of the present invention which are accomplished only through the present invention.